Street Update #97

Anika Dačić graduated in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory from the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade and is currently pursuing MA in Literary and Cultural Studies. Her interests lie in social and cultural aspects of contemporary art production and she especially enjoys writing about street and urban art. Likes to knit, play adventure video games and host quiz nights at a local bar.

Continue to follow best public interventions on our Facebook page, and scroll down to see the last week’s favorites…

YASH in Stockholm

The city of Stockholm, Sweden got richer for another mural done by the Swedish artist Linus Lundin, better known by his moniker YASH. The Stockholm-based artist spent a couple of days working on the mural depicting a young girl with a robin on her shoulder. Drawing inspiration from the human and animal body shapes, YASH kept his work simple, working with light colors and realistically represented subjects. This artist pays a special attention to the emotional role of his works and this optimistic image is certainly going to warm the hearts of the Stockholm passersby in the following winter days.

Bordalo II in Este, Italy

After participating in Life is Beautiful Festival curated by JUSTKIDS in Las Vegas, Portuguese street artist Bordalo II is back on the streets of Europe, this time in Italy. Always innovative in his ideas Bordalo has once again shown to the world how one man’s trash becomes treasure once the artistic creativity is added to the mix. Made entirely out of discarded and recycled materials the hedgehog will become the permanent resident of the Italian city of Este. The piece is installed on the green and blue fluorescent background which came to dominate Bordalo’s artworks in the recent times and it was created as part of Bordalo’s participation in Impatto 2.0 Festival.

Alexis Diaz in Lodz, Poland

Puerto Rican muralist Alexis Diaz, famous for his meticulous and highly detailed surreal imagery was recently in the Polish city of Lodz, painting one of his large-scale works for the Lodz Murals public arts program. Urban Forums Gallery initiated this project in 2009 and since then many celebrated names in the world of street art had the opportunity to leave their mark on one of the Lodz walls. Using Chinese ink and brushes Diaz painted the wings of the butterfly, all Seeing Eye and a tree sprouting from a human heart. This dreamlike composition is entitled Sentir and it features the artist’s vision of the South American mythic tale The Wings of the Butterfly.

Dzia in Bornem, Belgium

Our next mural comes from the artist whose name is definitely not a surprise in our Street Update section. Although he sometimes skips a week or two, Belgian artist Dzia is regularly on the list with his latest animal pieces painted on the streets worldwide. The young deer in front of you is one of many Dzia did recently in the city of Bornem. Made in his signature geometric style and monochromatic coloring this running deer is a part of the much bigger family Dzia painted in one of the city’s underpasses bringing once again the beautifully represented wildlife to the urban environment.

Above in Johannesburg

Californian artist Above was in Johannesburg, South Africa last week, as one of the participants in the fifth edition of the City of Gold Urban Art festival. Working for six full days, Above created an astonishing abstract piece titled Incognito, which also happens to be the largest mural the artist has done in his twenty year long career. Made in his signature style the piece features a vibrant composition of arrows pointing upwards, painted in a palette of more than twenty colors. Above’s latest mural is 33 meters tall and 17 meters wide, and it certainly is one of the most memorable creations we have seen lately.